The Royal Ascot winner Prince of Lir will have his French debut in Sunday’s $142,500 Prix Robert Papin for 2-year-old colts and fillies at Maisons-Laffitte Racecourse.
The King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes on Saturday at Ascot was supposed to mark the next appearance by the mighty Postponed. But with Postponed laid low this week by an upper-respiratory infection, the 1 1/2-mile summer fixture could come down to Dartmouth and Highland Reel, a pair of 4-year-olds separated by a head last month when Dartmouth won the Hardwicke Stakes at Royal Ascot.
Ultra, the undefeated winner of the Group 1 Prix Jean Luc-Lagardere for 2-year-olds last October, will have his 2016 debut in Sunday’s $143,780 Prix Eugene Adam for 3-year-olds at Maisons-Laffitte racecourse in Paris.
Mont Ormel, a minor stakes winner in France last month, won his Group 1 debut in Thursday’s $665,400 Grand Prix de Paris at Saint-Cloud Racecourse in Paris.
The French colt Mekhtaal ran a clunker on the biggest day of his career last month, finishing eighth of 16 as the 9-2 second choice in the French Derby at Chantilly.
Limato won the first Group 1 race of his career in his fourth attempt, and beat the winners of three Group 1 sprints at Royal Ascot last month, in Saturday’s $645,450 July Cup at Newmarket Racecourse.
The English filly Nemoralia has a decent chance to beat males in France in the Group 1 Prix Jean Prat for 3-year-olds over one mile at Chantilly on Sunday.
Alice Springs was winless in three Group 1 races for 3-year-old fillies in England and France during May and June. The streak ended with a successful debut against older fillies and mares in Friday’s Group 1 Falmouth Stakes at Newmarket, England.
The three winners of Group 1 sprints at Royal Ascot last month – Profitable, Quiet Reflection, and Twilight Son – meet for the first time in Saturday’s $645,450 July Cup at Newmarket Racecourse.
Kieren Fallon, a six-time champion jockey in Britain who rode sporadically in the United States in recent years, announced his retirement earlier this week, citing severe depression.
